Tuesday, December 30, 2014

SET UP IN A NEW SPOT, SCHMOOZING WITH NEIGHBORS & THE SASS DROPS BY & IS GONE AGAIN

CAN YOU FIND THE PHEEBS

Watched old Sol rise over yonder Cargo Muchacho Mountains this morning spilling it’s warming rays into our coach. Just the other side of those mountains to the east lies the city of Yuma. Everything east of the Colorado River running through Yuma is in Arizona & everything west of the Colorado is in California. It is the Colorado River which divides the city of Yuma with the majority of Yuma being on Arizona’s side of the river. At night we can see Yuma’s glow of lights over the Muchacho mountains & if we look slightly southward along the flat horizon we can a string of bright shimmering lights stretched across the horizon & I am guessing that is Algodones.

SUNRISE OVER THE CARGO MUCHACHO MOUNTAINS

After a nice walk our first order of business was to unhitch little Jeepers & set off to find us a better docking spot. Too many rigs in the neighborhood we were were in. Didn’t take us long to find Jean & Skip on the northwest fringe of the RV area alongside Ogilbe road. Stopped in to say hello. Sophie, Louie, & big Jake ran out to meet us. Because we had our satellite dish in the back of the Jeep we didn’t have Pheebs with us. We spotted an Okay area just north of Jean & Skip so drove back to our overnight spot & brought the rig over. Our spot is out in the open more than we like but it will do for now. We generally look for a clump of trees to park near but all the clumpy tree places have rigs parked next to them. RV’s are actually spaced out further apart here than Borrego Springs. No high areas nearby to climb up & get a better overall view though. We can see California’s Imperial Sand Dunes just south of us. That’s where all the Dune Buggy, ATV, & Dirt Bike kids hang out. Fortunately they are far enough away not to be a bother. Can’t even hear them.

It’s so nice for us out docking in the desert this time compared to the last 2 times a month ago when the only reason we were on the road was our troublesome inverter & both trips were to Niland/Slab City to deal with that problem. All electrical things in the coach are working properly now making everything very much most less stressful. This past week has been more reminiscent of our earlier years just wandering around for the winter months fancy free & footloose. Except when we were ranch sitting near McNeal Az. for a few months each winter. Our travel time was a little more tied down in those days for a few winters.

ALL SET UP IN OUR NEW SPOT COMPLETE WITH SATELLITE TV

Walked over to Jean & Skip’s place after lunch & had us a sit around for a couple hours. Nice enough to be outside in the warm sun just enjoying all the fresh air. Pheebs was happy to see Sophie, Louie, & big Jake. I think best Pals often remember each other.

LOTS OF SMOOCHES GOING AROUND

OH THOSE LAZY HAZY CRAZY DAYS OF WINTER

Noticed the constellation Scorpios has cleared the horizon in our early morning skies. Our season is marching on & here we are at the end of another year & for us that means we are now nearly half way through our winter stay in the southwest. Seems like just a week ago we arrived here. And we haven’t even got around to seeing some of our Congress area friends yet. Oh Dear, we certainly will never win any awards for our social skills.

NORTHERN END OF THE CARGO MUCHACHOS MOUNTAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON

Weather is looking pretty grouchy for the Congress area over the next few days. Cold days & there is talk of snow. Since being in Congress for a couple winters now we have been snowed on 3 times. Hardly an inch & each time it was only on the ground a few hours & had melted away by noon. Aunt Jean who loves her warm Florida weather flew out to see us 2 winters ago & wouldn’t you know it we woke up to snow on the ground the very next morning. With over 60 northern winters under our belts we really do not have to or want to ever see cold blowing snow again. Weather’s supposed to be back up in the mid to high 60’s next Sunday so I think we’ll wait for that warming trend before even thinking of heading back up that-a-way.

Heard a car horn….’Toot-Toot’. A white Tracker rolled up to the door & we recognized the driver & passenger right away. After all we did briefly meet once before on a highway north of Yuma last winter. Check out 65mph Encounter With A Blue Harley-Davidson Yep, it was SASSY her very self along with her little dog Bennie today. Had just delivered some oranges over to Jean & Skips & dropped over for a quick hello before heading back into Yuma. Sassy’s quick hellos are quick & 5 minutes later she was off in a big cloud of desert dust. That lady is a one woman whirlwind. Nice to see ya Sass:))

PHEEBS MEETS BENNIE

THAT ROADRUNNER ON SASSY’S DOOR SURE FITS THE BILL:))

Think this is maybe our 3rd or 4th time here just off Ogilby road northwest of Yuma so we are familiar with the area. We spent a Christmas here years ago. Those times were back in the days we still had Max, Checkers, & our little Motormouse Cora. Happy times. No idea how long we’ll stay here or where we will go next. Kelly’s feeling good so we might just keep on going forever:))

Checking our computer weather late this afternoon we think it may have been raining in Borrego Springs. We might have got out of town just in time. Weather for Yuma over the next few days is not looking as bad as earlier predicted. 40% chance of rain Tuesday with a mixture of sun & cloud. We are under an 80% cloud cover as I type this tonight…………………

GROANER’S CORNER:(( A little three-year-old boy is sitting on the toilet. His mother thinks he has been in there too long, so she goes in to see what's up. The little boy is sitting on the toilet reading a book. But about every 10 seconds or so he puts the book down, grips onto the toilet seat with his left hand and hits himself on top of the head with his right hand. His mother says, "Billy, are you all right? You've been in there for a while." Billy says, "I'm fine, Mommy. I just haven't gone yet." Mother says, "Okay, you can stay in there a few more minutes, but Billy, why are you hitting yourself on the head?" Billy says, "Works for ketchup!"

"Everything east of the Colorado River running through Yuma is in Arizona & everything west of the Colorado is in California. It is the Colorado River which divides the city of Yuma with the majority of Yuma being on Arizona’s side of the river."

You must have a different map than I do. I also do not remember the Colorado running through Yuma. There is a small town on the California side of the river but that is Winterhaven, CA and not part of Yuma. Perhaps you are speaking of Yuma as an area rather than the city/town. If that is so then what you say is true.

Beautiful sunrise! You just can't have a bad day when it starts like that :-) So fun to see still more familiar faces out in the desert. Glad your inverter is doing its job now and you're able to relax and enjoy the freedom. You and Kelly and Pheebs have a very Happy New Year with a healthy and fun-filled 2015.

Looks like a great spot! Den and I have been watching the freezing rain in Texas and are pretty happy we are ensconced in the Florida Southwest sunshine this year...Guaranteed warmth in January. You two have a great and wonderful New Year!! Den and I are certainly ready for it!

Good morning! I was just watching the news and they showed a picture of snow in Congress.....made me think of you. I know you are here to avoid all that white stuff which is why you're way out west today, but boy oh boy does this Phoenician look forward to this time of year. I am praying for snow in my back yard today. God be gracious to us. And may your terrain be filled with warm sunshine rays..

AL'S CAMERA EQUIPMENT

A sometimes asked question readers have about my blog is what kind of a camera do I use. Well I have 8 of them and use them all. Five Nikon DSLR's, two quality Sony point and shoots plus one older Canon point and shoot.

'UPDATE':: July 2017 Thanks to a very generous blog reader I have been able to update my Nikon camera equipment and supplement my camera gear with a couple additional fine Sony cameras as well.I now have a 'donated' Nikon D7200 sporting my new Nikkor 18-300 3.5 zoom lens. Also have picked up a new Nikkor 1.8 primary 35mm lens. In addition I also now have a Sony RX100-3 camera as well as a Sony Exmore Cybershot. I have given my Canon Powershot point and shoot camera to a neighbor.

- In early 2017 I replaced my Nikon D-90 camera with a new D-3400 after the 'auto focus' feature on my aging D-90 quit working. The Nikon D-90 had been my work horse camera sporting a Nikkor 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6 lens. I used this camera for most of my landscapes and I now have it set up for night photography where 'auto focus' is not necessary.

-My older faithful and favorite Nikon D-40 finally packed it in during the summer of 2015 and I replaced it with a new Nikon D-3100.

- Previous to my Nikon D-90, most of my photos were taken with my old faithful Nikon D-50 from 2006 to early 2011 whereupon the D-50 suffered a rather gruesome death when it fell off a table onto a cement porch in southeastern Arizona. The 70-300mm lens on the camera survived the fall but the D-50 did not. My Nikkor lenses are interchangable between the D-90 the D-3100 and the D-3400.